jlwquilter

I'd very much like to try my hand at an ice cream cake. I just read the related thread link too (thanks!). My concern has always been the "softened" ice cream. How soft? What happens to the melty/totally melted "runoff" ice cream stuff when it re-freezes, as far as texture goes? Do I soft the ice cream in a big bowl, stir it to get a uniform texture (ie: stir in the totally melted ice cream), and then spread? or do I plop the ice cream in and don't worry about the totally melted liquid stuff? Also, I got an ice cream maker for Xmas, which I have yet to even open. But... I was wondering, if I make ice cream in the maker and then pour the unripend ice cream onto a cake base (isn't the unripened ice cream sorta like soft serve??), etc. will that be a good/easy way to make an ice cream cake? TIA!

These are for my husband. I've made in the past a kind of Wagon Wheel dessert treat. I take a slice of banana, stick a toothpick in it, wrap a flattened Kraft caramel around it, dip it in melted chocolate, and them roll/sprinkle with fine chopped peanuts. He loves them. They are a mess to make and don't come together easily at all. The banana won't stay on the toothpick. I've tried them "raw". frozen, and semi-frozen to no avail. The caramel won't stick to the banana. I've prgressed to sticking the caramel to the toothpick and sorta enclosing the banana inside. The caramel flattens ok but is sticky and odd shaped and hard to work with. One piece of caramel rarely is enough to enclose a slice so I have to get 2 pieces to stick. It's a nightmare. The chocolate dips ok but lots of times the whole mess falls into the chocolate. The peanuts stick fine. So... I was thinking there's got to be a better way! I was thinking what if I make caramel and pour it into a pan... either over a layer of bananas or pour it and then place the bananas on top. Let it set up. Cut into shapes around the banana slices, stick in a toothpick, and dip in chocolate/nuts. BUT... would the bananas and caramel stick together this way?? From my prior attemps with the wheels it seems that it's the banana juice that oozes out and prevent the caramel from sticking to the slice. Should I dust the slices with confectioner's sigar and/or cornstrch first?? Are there other tricks to make them stick together?? All help is appreciated!

While I stupidly didn't say it in my first post/question, that was my base concern... would I exhaust the yeast if I overproofed it and end up with a brick. I've overproofed just twice, by accident and not to a huge extent, and I baked the loaves as they were. They were fine but sloppy looking at best as they somewhat deflated when I took the plastic wrap off and moved the pans into the oven. Hence my question. I guess the next time I overproof I'll just have to try re-shaping and see what happens. If I go for a deliberate overproof to accommondate a timing issue, then I'll try to remember to add a dash more yeast and sugar..... yes? I make basic bread. Rye mostly, then white, and then wheat.

Although I see your question was posted on December 1st and I'm sure you've fixed the problem by now, I guess I'll just answer for posterity's sake. Yes, if your bread overproofs, punch it down, re-shape, and re-proof. As far as the time it takes to re-proof, it will most likely be about the same time as the failed proof. Once you do your first bulk fermentation (in the big bowl/container, etc.) and punch it down to let the gas out, it also serves to redistribute the live yeast through the dough. Additional risings/proofings won't get you a significant increase in proofing time. In other words, if I do first fermentation / second fermentation / shape & proof, it would probably go something like: 60 minutes / 35-40 minutes / 25-30 minutes. Of course, it also depends on how hot and how humid your kitchen is. ← Thanks! I haven't had a chance to make more bread so your answer is still very timely for me. Being able to over proof the dough sometimes, on purpose, actually may help me. My DH works late alot and I could now make the dough earlier in the evening, let it rise willy-nilly, and then punch, re-shape, rise again and bake in the time it takes him to call me he's leaving work and him being ready to eat dinner at home (it's an hour drive). Perfect!

Well, the final try on the Swiss Roll was just as bad as the other attemps. No rise, fell apart, etc. I threw it out, I was so disgusted. On the bright side the Red Velvet Cake baked up as great as always and I got it crumb coated before I left. All I had to do Monday evening when I got back was the final frosting. Customer was very happy with it all. I would like to figure out what I am doing wrong though. The very first time I made it it came out very well and I was thrilled. All down hill from there I will maybe try again sometime in the future.... it's just so aggravating! I did think of not rolling the cake but cutting it into layers and going that route. However I didn't think of simply switching over to a different cake recipe - duh! I'll try to remember that type of solution for the next time disaster strikes. And the super best thing of course is that the visit with my sister went very well. We've not been close for many many years so I was particularly stressed to visit her but it went great. I am SO GLAD I made the trip and now have as best a last memory of her as I could have hoped for. Thanks again for all the help, ideas, and suggestions. You guys are the BEST!

I recently saw the big fat regular shaped pretzels (not rods) dipped in chocolate and then covered with M&Ms. Maybe this is a dumb idea but you could use them on cut out cookies (gingerbread or sugar) as decorations... outline a yellow frosted star with yellow M&Ms, a tree with green, etc. As a topping on cupcakes. Around the base area or up the sides (instead of cake crumbs for example) of a frosted cake. I am pretty sure I've seen M&Ms on brownies.

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the help, especially righ now. I am crazed Can being short 1 T of cocoa really make that big a difference?? The cake was flatter than a pancake. I did whip the egg yolks and sugar (the amount not used with the whites) the full 5 minutes... even used the kitchen timer. Cream of tartar. I think mine is ok but who knows. I sorta remember it can be checked by adding a few drops of lemon juice to some and if it bubbles, it's fresh...?? My egg whites whipped up fine if that means anything. As I said, the batter looked great... just no rise in the oven. I am going to make the cake again first thing in the morning - after checking back here. I simply can't face it again tonight. I'll move onto the other thousand things on my list. I did think of a Plan B... the woman did order Red Velvet Cake at first but I stupidly (!!) suggested this roll as something different. If the roll fails tommorrow, I'll make her the RVC. When it rains, it pours

I have made this recipe twice out of the book (library copy) and copied it out for future use. The future is now as I have an order for it for Tuesday. For some reason the cake I baked today turned out a complete disaster I am sorta hoping that I simply made a copying error. I am also hoping to avoid having to run to the library tomorrow to get the book - if they even have it on the shelf - as I leave Friday very early morning to fly home for an emergency visit (sister is in decline... cancer) and won't be back until the day the cake is due. I really, really need to get the cake finished and in the freezer before I go. Here is the recipe I have: Cocoa Souffle Roll ¼ cup + 2 TBLS unsweetened cocoa ¼ cup boiling water 1 tsp vanilla 2 TBLS soft butter 2/3 cup sugar, divided into ½ cup and remainder 5 extra large eggs*, seperated ¾ tsp cream of tartar 1 TBLS cocoa for dusting baked cake * I changed this from 6 large eggs and is what I used last time successfully. Did I forget anything or copy wrong?? Thanks so much. I am like a chicken without it's head right now

Bread question: If I shape my loaf for the 2nd rising and accidentially let it over-rise, can I punch the dough back down, re-shape and let it rise again with no loss of quality?? Will the 2nd second rsing happen faster? Thanks!

Well, I baked up a ton of empanadas yesterday... sausage, peppers and onions with extra american cheese on top. Steam slits were a disaster... the cheese bubbled thru and made a mess. Hubby ate the cheese and was happy. There didn't seem to be any difference is sealing power between water vs. egg wash for keeping the crimped edges closed. I still had some cheese leaking from crimped edges but overall less than before. I think I am simply getting more skilled at the whole folding process... and guaging how much filling to put inside. We do like overfilled empanadas... more meat to crust ratio. I also have to get better on my rolled dough thickness. I am still rolling too thin too often and that creates issues. Practice makes perfect, right?!

Thanks for the link! I don't read or speak Spanish but the pics were good. I don't think they really gave me anything new to try to solve my leaking problem though.

I appreciate the comments here! Unfortunately I'm not seeing anything that is really going to solve my particular problem I have indeed frozen baked pumpkin pies - for my own use. I think the filling tastes just fine when defrosted but the crust and filling do part ways and the crust is only passable at best (soggy and not just on the bottom). I would not sell the pies like this under any circumstances. I also don't think my customers would be happy with anything less than a fnished, slap it on the table dessert either. I did wonder how the frozen pie makers did it... a blast freezer, eh? Makes sense I guess. I guess Plan B is it. Another type of pie or pumpkin something else. I do make a pumpkin cheesecake that is pretty tasty and will try to talk the customers into that But some just want that traditional pie... and I can't say I blame them either!

I've made 2 or 3 Swiss Rolls using the Cocoa Souflle Cake from the Cake Bible. The first one I did following the directions exactly and while I did get a small crack in the cake while rolling, overall I was pretty damn impressed with my efforts. The 2nd time I made the cake but split the batter into 2 smaller pans. I feel I overbaked the cake a tad but nothing crazy. This time, in an effort to not get any cracks, I rolled the cakes while slightly warm. Disaster! Cake just fell apart. I mooshed it all back together and at least it still tasted great. I don't know if it also had an effect but this cake, I filled with much more frosting than I did the cake that rolled pretty well. I now need to make a Swiss Roll to sell. Should I go back to waiting until the cake it totally cold (cooled flat) to roll and hope for no cracks? The recipe claims the cake practically can't crack but I managed to prove that wrong Should I try rolling the cake warm (or cold??) but WITHOUT the filling, then let it cool, unroll, fill with filling and re-roll? I saw a FoodNetwork program (On the Road with the Neely's) where the featured bakery seemed to do it this way. Except I don't really know if the unfilled cake was rolled warm or cold, now that I think on it. The showcase cake was filled massively with filling as well.... too much filling to my mind but as I thought maybe one issue with my disaster roll was too much filling, I wonder how the amount of filling effects rolling/cracking...? I am also wondering if I can stick with splitting the batter between 2 cake pans (which I like the idea of as it makes for more manageable sized cakes for my usage) In case it matters, I am filling the cake with a cocoa cream cheese frosting, then dusting with powdered sugar. Oh, any tips on keeping the rolled cake as round as possible? My cakes went oval, from their own weight. I can live with it but heck, I can at least try for a rounder end result. Thanks!

I do some on request baking. Thanksgiving is coming and I am starting to get requests. However, this year, I will be on vacation all of Thanksgiving week so anything I sell has to be made and delivered the Friday before and somehow be storable by my customers until they want to eat/serve it... mostly on Turkey Day. My main current concern is pumpkin pie. Can I do this?? Can I make a pie the week ahead, using all sorts of anti soggy bottom crust tricks, tell my customers to leave it wrapped in the fridge all that time and be confident that the served product will do me (and them!) proud?? I am thinking "no"but would love to hear "yes, and this is how:"!

This is an older thread, but the topic is relatively new to me I've been making empanadas for about 2 months now. I am using a basic dough recipe that's worked pretty well overall, given that I don't know what I am doing anyway. In reading some other threads though, I see that many of the dough recipes have baking powder - mine does not. For filling I have used, variously, beef & cheese, chili, sausage/pepper/onion, tamale, etc. Any meat based filling that I have on hand that isn't too wet may get shoved into a dough pocket for trial! Here's my issue: My DH, who is thrilled with the empanadas, also loves gobs of melted cheese inside of the pocket. I have been placing shredded cheese on top of the meat filling before folding the circle in half. I wet the edges with water first and crimp with a fork. Brush with egg wash and into the oven, ususally about 375 for 25 minutes or so. The cheese is melting OUT of the pocket at the crimped edges. Argh! The meat stays in. And the one emapanda I baked, forgetting to put the extra cheese on top DID NOT leak. Go figure. So... if I add a leavener to the dough recipe will the rising action stop leaks? If I add steam slashes to the top before baking, will that stop the leaking? If I use egg wash instead of water for the edge moistening? What if I twist the dough at the edges to get a thicker edge vs. crimping with a fork?? FYI - this cheese leaking thing bugs me, but as I am currently cutting the melted cheese off and giving it to DH to eat, he's pretty happy with the leaks! Any insights or suggestions would be most appreciated!

Just wanted to report back that I have tried freezing individual slice of my rye bread... to great success! I've only toasted the frozen slices as toasted bread is my personal favorite. Now all I have to do is remember to slice and freeze the loaves sooner... I went to do a partial loaf today and it was already moldy Damn this humid south Florida weather. At least the cows will be happy!

When I want thin crispier chocolate chip cookies I use the old Betty Crocker recipe. But I sub in almost all butter... the recipe calls for half butter, half shortening. And I bake them with freshly made dough, not chilled. The cookie spreads and thins out. The very center is a bit soft but not by much, especially after cooling. I love doubling this recipe, using 1 cup of butter with 1/3 cup of butter flavored Crisco and baking it all in a 9 x13 pan for 35 minutes (375 oven) for awesome cookie bars. My family actually prefers the cookie bars to the standard cookie.

I am definitely going to give this a try with an "extra" loaf of bread. Being able to pull off a sorta fake out for guests would be awesome. I have trouble sometimes coordnating a hot loaf with all the other elements of a guest meal/entertaining vs. being locked in the kitchen and this trick would be great! Thanks!

Thanks for all the input! Everyone seems pretty consistant in what they do, which makes it easy for me I am going to try the slices as that works best for my small family. I love making and freezing things ahead of use so I'll probably start making 4 loaves on my bread baking days. Yahoo! I have been keeping the bread in a plastic bag on my count. I will try a paper bag instead and see it that increases shelf life, especially if I end up leaving the 2nd loaf out for some reason and not freezing it. It's sometimes hard to predict how fast that 2nd loaf will be eaten.

I make 2 loaves of rye bread at a time. We seem to rarely be able to finish the 2nd loaf before it starts to go moldy. I am now officially tired of throwing the half loaf away. I'd like to slice and freeze individual slices for future use, but have never done this before. Are there any tips or tricks I should know in order to have the thawed bread at it's best?? Am I pretty much limited to having to toast the thawed slices, which is fine if that's the way it is, but if there's a way to "re-fresh" the bread so as to be almost a good as fresh baked, I'd love to know that too. Oh, should I thaw the slices and then toast or is toasting them still frozen just as good? Thanks!

Thank you all for the information! My "open package in the pantry" is in a former plastic frosting container but I am going to move it to the fridge and store my "current usage yeast" inthe fridge from now on. I live in southeast FL so hot and humid BUT have the AC cranking most days so it can get cool in the house. Maybe the AC was cranking more than usual that one/two days. My third batch with the questionable yeast came out just fine, although I did add a teensy bit more yeast than normal, did let it rise longer (but not crazy longer) and at one point I did put the loaf pans into a pan of warm water.... so in may ways incorporated the suggestions made! And if that is what I need to do until I use that batch of yeast up, I can live with it FYI: my young daughter had to come up with a science project for class. We decided to do comparisons of yeast... instant, active dried, and rapid-rise (bread machine) yeasts... which would rise fastest given same time, water, flour, sugar, temperature, etc. The instant yeast rose quite a bit faster than the other 2. However, given a longer time frame for rising, the rapid-rise yeast caught up to the instant yeast. Active dry was "left in the dust". But now given what I am reading here, a faster rise isn't necessarily a good thing! I am a home baker and we love the bread I make but I won't say that it's the best ever made certainly. I'd like to improve the bread... should I go for a slower rising yeast after all?? Or when I have time (yeah, right) rise the dough in the fridge? Hmm... maybe I am getting off topic for this thread. If so, I apologize!

I can use some help/advice too! I use instant yeast, bought at BJs so in 3 large vacuum sealed packages. I have one in the freezer, one in the pantry (sealed) and one opened in the pantry that I've been using. Expiration date is Sept. 2009. First thing is I am moving the sealed pantry package to the freezer as I am not using the yeast as fast as I thought I would. If I keep the packages freezed, how long past expiration date will they last? Months or more like a year or more? The open package I've been using seems to not be "working" as well as it has been. The last 2 batches didn't rise nearly as much in the same amount of time. The first lower rise batch was still ok but noticable less risen... but baked and tasted fine. Only I noticed any difference from previous loaves. The most recent low rise bread (significantly less rise in same timeframe) was quite dense/heavy and while it tasted fine, it was well, dense and heavy. Great toasted though! So... is my yeast dying? Can I simply use more in the recipe to compensate? Should I use the same amount of yeast but plan for a much longer rise time? Do I chuck the unused yeast (well, at least it'll help my septic tank so not a complete loss!), open a fresh package but keep the unused part in the freezer instead of the pantry? If so, do I need to brng the yeast back to room temp before using it in a recipe? This is a classic case of "the more I learn, the less I know!" for me BTW, I right now have one more batch going, just to see if third time is lucky. I am nothing if not subborn

I just got the Cake Bible from my library and was paging thru it. RLB says to put the batter in the desired pan then keep it in the fridge until baking. This will result in properly (or very close to) risen cake. Apparently the batter wil rise somewhat in the fridge and then deflate going into a pan and not re-rise again properly. This solution is more for having pans and batter but not enough oven space. But I thought I'd throw the info in here as it's somewhat related to the topic at hand - and I certainly found it helpful!

To throw in another version of crumb topping... my go to recipe is the same as already noted except that mine subs in 1/3 cup of oats for some of the flour. I find the oats add a nice flavor and texture as well as added nutrition... hey, I can almost sell it as a "health food" topping!

I am just starting to play with my new wok. Carbon Steel, 14", bought at my semi-local restaurant store for a whopping $10.50! What a deal! I did go internet walking and found sites to tell me how to season it, told me to heat the wok THEN add the oil to prevent food sticking (works too!), etc. I am such a novice The only thing I've made in it so far is Mongolian Beef, but I've made it a dozen times in a few weeks as we are loving it so much. YUM! I am definitely getting better at it too. Oh, my wok has the round bottom and a helper handle on each side.